Soucieu-en-Jarrest is a village 14 kms south-west of Lyon, still quite
rural and with a population of 4,400 inhabitants in 2015. But in 1936,
there were only 1,186 residents, and it was truly a country village.

PRE-WAR

This story really begins with Marius Jasserand. Little is recorded
about him beyond the fact that he owned and operated two routes
south-west from Lyon to Mornant, one running via Taluyers and one via
Orliénas.

In 1932 the vehicles used on the two routes (sadly information on the
makes is missing) were:

Then a gentlemen by the name of Joannès Bruyas decided he wanted to
purchase the business. Who made the first step, what was Joannès Bruyas
doing before? We don’t know. In the end, Joannès purchased just
one of the routes (the one that went via Orliénas).

The sale document was signed on 30 December 1936. The price was 20,000
FRF, and the seller declared the following figures as a true indication
of the worth of the business:

Subsequently, the new owner usually referred to his business as
“Etablissements Bruyas, Entrepreneur de Transports”. And
the impression was given – wrongly, I believe - that Jasserand no
longer operated the alternative route via Taluyers. Maybe he had not
surrendered the licence, retaining his rights, and then reactivated the
route, as we shall see later.

In 1938 he was writing to the Mairie de Lyon, stating that his vehicle,
a 22 seat Berliet registered 4506PF4 needed an authorised lay-over
space in Lyon, at or near the Cours de Verdun terminus.

WARTIME

Then came the usual difficulties associated with war-time operations.
In June 1940 his vehicle was 2997 PG 4.

On 3 August 1940 OTL (the Lyon urban operator) complained of unfair
competition, particularly at St Genis Laval where the route met
with the Lyon Mornant route of OTL sub-contractor Les Cars Lyonnais.

On 31 July 1940, the administration modified the route which became
Lyon Perrache to Millery via Charly and Irigny – 2 returns daily. No
pickups were allowed between Saint Genis Laval and Lyon.

Then on 2 September 1940 the route was shortened to run just from
Soucieu-en-Jarret to Saint Genis Laval in order to economise on
fuel. And there was a spectacular incident where for a short time
he could not run the service because he was refused fuel, because his
name had inadvertently been left off of the list of approved
transporters – this had to be rectified by the Préfecture.

POST-WAR

On 5 November 1946, Sunday services from Lyon to Soucieu were resumed,
but limited to two returns.

Bruyas and Jasserand may not have been at one another’s throats, but
there was undoubtedly friction between the two of them.
In 1952, the authorities proceeded to determine the rights of the two
parties, based on a protocol signed on 30 March 1950.
It was confirmed that Bruyas would run 5 daily returns from Soucieu to
Lyon via Brignais, this being the Jasserand frequency on 21 April 1934.
Jasserand kept the Mornant to Lyon via Soucieu and Brindas sevice with
7/8 returns on weekdays and 11/13 returns on Sundays.

This 1952 timetable is little more than a
typewritten sheet

Headed
notepaper in 1961

Official archives are full of details of spot fines issued by the
roving inspectors from the Department of Transport, quite often wrongly
issued or filed without action. Rarely is there more than a warning.
Examples -

In 1961, a coach touring in the Vosges, driven by Roger Dalmas, was
stopped and errors were found in the client contract hire documents.
The vehicle concerned was:
7691BA69, a Berliet PLH8MI VIN 3C92 - 42 seats - new in 1959

On 1 July 1964, Louis Bruyas, 63 years old, born on 28/06/1900 at
Taluyers, was unable to supply an insurance certificate, which had been
lost.

In 1972 the business was involved in the same issue of unauthorized
fare increases as Cars Lyonnais – but Bruyas, which had also aligned
its fares on those of Transports Citroën, put them right quickly and
escaped with just a warning.

So at some time, Joannès had disappeared from the scene and Louis had
taken his place. Who was Louis Bruyas? We do not know. He was
presumably family, but not Joannès’ son, since Joannès was not his
father’s name.

But Louis was the owner of the business at the time of his death on 5
May 1967 and under his estate, in 1968, the business passed to Roger
Dalmas (born 02/08/1932 and son-in-law), married to his only child,
Odette (born 29/12/1931).

A new twist to the story, in 1971, was the registering of the “Société
Les Cars Bruyas, Société d’exploitation” – with a capital of 20,000 FRF
- RCS 67A1772. The lease was for 2 years and tacitly renewable,
beginning on 01/05/1971. The annual rent was 36,000 FRF.

A société d’exploitation is a not uncommon structure in France. The
real owners keep the fixed assets apart, and the capital of the
operating company can be opened up to outsiders who participate in the
operating profits, as was the case here, but who do not share in the
ownership of the assets. The new entrant in the business was Mr
Letierce.

In the same year, on 7 September 1971, the business was authorized to
extend the route to Verchery.

But one point had been overlooked.
Bruyas held a number of subsidized schools contracts, awarded to Cars
Bruyas. The société d’exploitation was viewed by the Department of
Transport as a new operator (new legal identity). The law states that
where the named business does not operate contracts itself, the
decision reverts to the Préfecture. In other words, another tendering
process became obligatory.

Taking a specific case, the schools service Chausson – Rontalon -
Mornant produced two propositions. One, from Cars Lyonnais, was
calculated by the administration as requiring a subsidy of 132 FRF TTC
per day. The Cars Bruyas offer was judged to be 204,75 FRF TTC per day.
Bruyas considered the circuit would take them 40 minutes, Les Cars
Lyonnais would take 1h05. An independent control put the journey time
at 55 minutes, probably more in winter. Les Cars Lyonnais were more
credible on all fronts.

Mr Letierce, gérant of the Société d’Exploitation, undoubtedly spent a
lot of time stating his case. Bruyas had operated the circuit since its
inception. The Sarl société d’exploitation had been created with
capital from DALMAS and LETIERCE to enable expansion. He himself, Jean
Eugène Letierce, 17 rue Port du Temple à Lyon, had registered his
activity with the Tribunal de Commerce ( RCS Lyon 71B548) on 15 July
1971.

At the time, there was no obligation on the tendering authority to
accept the lowest tender. In the end, the committee agreed to accept
the Bruyas revised offer of 166,40 FRF TTC per day.

But on 20 August 1973, the escape clause in the Société d’Exploitation
was activated, and the contract cancelled.

Nothing more recent is on file. Had MM Delmas and Letierce had
enough? Did they sell out to Cars Lyonnais? We don’t know,
for the moment……….

FOOTNOTE

In 2017, Soucieu is served by two Transdev RAI (ex Cars Lyonnais)
routes. On weekdays the 114 runs Oullins to Taluyers. And on Saturdays
it is replaced by the 145 – Oullins to Rive de Gier, which on that day
only is diverted via Soucieu.